Night on Earth

Night on Earth is a 1991 Jim Jarmusch film, an anthology film following taxi drivers. The first driver is in Los Angeles, the next in New York, then Paris, Rome and last is Helsinki. It's a fascinating slice of life during one night. Jim Jarmusch is one of those directors whose name alone will draw me to a film. Tom Waits does the music. How can you resist?

I watched it free with commercials on Hulu. Here's a trailer:

The NYT gives it a positive review and says that Jarmusch is "an increasingly fine director of actors. The members of the cast are splendid to start with, but he pushes them to singular achievements". Rolling Stone says, "the cool comic detachment of Jim Jarmusch is a bracing alternative. Jarmusch offers a hip, urban, brooding take on a pop culture closed off to feeling" and "the film's cumulative power is what matters, and that power is undeniable. Jarmusch is a true visionary". Spirituality and Practice calls it a "thoroughly distinctive and compelling film"

Roger Ebert gives it 3 stars and says, "At the end, we have learned no great lessons and arrived at no thrilling conclusions, but we have shared the community of the night, when people are unbuttoned and vulnerable - more ready to speak about what's really on their minds." Rotten Tomatoes has a critics score of 71% and an audience rating of 91%. Quite a difference, proving once again that professional critics are often out of touch with public opinion.